Sound Peace

New Review of Fairy Lullabies from Daily OM

In the tradition of the Buddha Bar and chill-out discs comes the moody northern flow of The Celtic Lounge II, a collection of lilting, heartrending ballads from the likes of Tina Malia, Gary Stadler, Stephanie Stadler, and Sharon Knight. These artists are frequent openers on chill-out discs, but it's quite a different experience to have them all assembled together, like a calling of the very mellowest of Celtic tribes for a postfeast dance and loll amidst the rolling moss and mist. If you are new to the world of Celtic chill-out, then this is a great place to start. It's the ideal disc for unwinding at home after an evening out, driving through the rolling hills in a warm spring wind, or having late night drinks in a misty garden under a full moon.

Tina Malia kicks things off with "Lilac Blooms (Under the Rising Moon)" her fragile, clear glass voice emanating like rippling waves of healing yin energy among the darker drones, a lovely green princess bestowing blessings along a line of dark, ready warriors about to journey deep into the forest. When she sings "I want my hands on the breath of life," it's at once spiritual and sensual, a declaration of abandonment and a vow of faith. A standout amidst the lush orchestral sweep of most tracks is >David Gordon's hushed solo-piano rendition of the old Irish drinking standard, "The Foggy Dew." He effortlessly captures all the melancholy ache of the song and some spiritual transcendence besides.

Gary Stadler plays on two tracks with two different chanteuses: Stephanie for the melting ice-cap melodies of "Faraway" and Wendy Rule for the cinematic sweepings of "Fly Away." Her voice vaguely girlish and innocent, Rule's request to "Fly away with me / Release the ground below / There's everything to see / And everywhere to go," over gently unraveling piano, has the graceful precision of a recital that's so good you forgot you were dragged there. Stephanie is more of a diva, cooing long, bending vowels over the rolling keys and gently flowing rivers of Celtic harp. A fine collection of northern flavors, The Celtic Lounge II makes coming home from a hard day at the office seem like coming home to a warm hearth after a cold month away on the windswept sea. – Daily OM

 

 

 

Helping Service Members Relax

We were recently approached by the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center's (NMCPHC) Health Promotion and Wellness department.  They asked if we would donate an album of songs for their website relaxation tool for service members. We agreed to donate our music to their project.

It's good to know that our music can help service members relax, heal and renew their spirit.  

When their "Relax Relax" website tool is up and running, we will let you know and include the link so you can
check it out.

If you have ever experienced our music helping you to release stress and heal yourself, we would love to hear from you.  You can leave comments below.

Namaste,
David & Steve 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Review - Drum Cargo: Rhythms of Wind

Here is a new review that recently came in from Music Design In Review:

While David & Steve Gordon have been exploring the earthy goodness of Shamanic rhythms in their music for over two decades, they've reached new levels of percussive joy with their "Drum Cargo" series. These albums are solely about the drumming, showing how the raw, primal nature of the drum translates into music so infectious it's impossible to sit still. Drum Cargo: Rhythms of Wind, the latest in their elementally themed quartet, focuses on a literal smorgasbord of different drums. Taos log drums, dun duns, frame drums, conga drums, djembe, dumbek, cajon, bongos - these drums come from all corners of the world and lend to the rich percussive sound present here. Being wind-based, the album also features subtle tones of Native American flute wafting in the backdrop. Great for focus, trance dance, yoga or simply any time you need a boost of invigoration and adventure in your day.

Steve Gordon: It's great that Music Design listed some of the drums used on this album in their review. It's an incomplete list though, so I thought it would be fun to include the entire list of drums and percussion used here. Between David and I and the other two drummers on the album, Kim Atkinson and Bobby Cochran, we had a huge collection of world drums and percussion instructions to play.  They were spread out across our studio for many days while we were recording.  Here is the full list:

Djembe, Sangba,Talking Drums, Nigerian log drums, Krin, Shekere, Bongo Madera, Batajon, bass Cajon, Timbales, Conga, Bongo,Bells, Caxixi, Tamborim, Repinique, Surdos, Ganza, Seedpod rattle, Frame Drums, Dumbecs, Calabash, Gankogui, Adodo, Ghatam, Gongs, Bowls, Box Drum, Moroccan Bongos, Shakers, water bottle, metal percussion, Taos Log Drums, Djembe, Ashiko, Congas, Tar, Gathering Drum, Tongue Drum, Turtle Rattle, Native American Flutes, Seed Pod Rattle, Palm Leaf Rattle, Rainstick, Kalimba, Souix Drum, Dun Duns, Native Heart Drum, Taos Log Drums, Frame Drums, Congas, Taos Pueblo Rattles, Tongue Drum and Rainstick!

 

 

Featured Review from "An Angel's Kiss" blog - Earth Drum Visions

It was great to read this review of our 25th Anniversary DVD/CD release, Earth Drum Visions.  If you have not checked out these videos yet, you can see one of them if you scroll down to the bottom of this page. - Steve

Here is the review:

"We hope that our music connects people everywhere with the Earth and inspires them to help heal and care for her." - David and Steve Gordon

"Thirty years ago on this day, in 1982, Sequoia Records was born.

Internationally acclaimed music legends, David and Steve Gordon, gave birth to Sequoia Records after being inspired by a backpacking trip to Sequoia National Park.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their award-winning career,

Steve and David released Earth Drum Visions, a collection of eight of their favorite songs paired up with nature films featuring America's most pristine natural environments. The natural footage, which was originally shot in state-of-the-art High-Definition by award-winning filmmakers, is beautifully synchronized with the music. The Earth Drum Visions DVD and CD collection is part of Sequoia’s new "Music and Vision" series.

A Multi-Sensory Experience

The Gordon brothers' cinematic surround-sound audio score is combined with scenery shot by filmmakers Michael Heumann, Quinn Schumaker and Leslie King, each element bringing the other to life. This merging creates a multi-sensory experience and ambiance that is unmatched.

The Gordon brothers have looked back over their innovative twenty-five year career and selected eight tracks for this collection. Earth Drum Visions is rich in Tribal drums, sounds of nature, Native American flute, keyboards, Andean panpipes, guitars and percussion from all over the world. The compositions move from relaxing, quieter pieces to more emotionally stirring, heat inducing tempos and rhythms. The spiritual roots of the sounds are evident, making the DVD a great tool for meditation and yoga.

Two Cats On The Cool Train

David and Steve have been putting out award winning albums since I was a small tot. The Gordon Brothers are an unstoppable force in new age music, with nature backing them up ... literally.

They are committed to creating music that connects people to the earth and to the deepest parts of themselves. Sequoia Records has more healing music planned for the future.

One of the great aspects of this label is that, with its peace of mind guarantee, you can enjoy Sequoia music risk-free . Sequoia allows you to return any purchase for a full refund or exchange and best of all, their guarantee has no time limit. It lasts forever.

I highly recommend the Earth Drum Visions DVD and CD collection. You will not be disappointed. For more information please visit Sequoia Records."

- Review by Angel St John on An Angel's Kiss blog 

 

 

 

New Review of Celestial Zen from Daily OM

We got at real kick when we read this new review from Daily OM.  They really got where we were coming from back in the 80's when it was first released.  It's a very entertaining read, check it out. - Steve

"David and Steve Gordon have recorded a vast array of world, trance, loop, and meditation-based music since they formed their Sequoia label, but Celestial Zen goes way back in time to the early ’80s, when they recorded the tracks as part of their Visionary Environments series. The analog synthesizers squiggle and shake with resonance thanks to digital remastering, but the old-school space cadet glow is all there. The retro-futurist aspect gives the album an ’80s sci-fi soundtrack vibe, reminiscent of then-futuristic acts like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. It’s music meant for big, fuzzy headphones and deep third-eye visualizations of Andromeda and the Pleiades while sprawled on beanbag chairs or perched on meditation blankets.

Tracks vary in style but the mood is always cosmic. "Starshower - 1st Movement" opens on tinkling cascades of chimes and low, rolling synthesizer melodics that rise, fall, and slowly swirl into life like a distant galaxy in midbirth. "Parallel Lives" burbles with shooting meteors and Vangelis-style synth pads while "Galactic Alignment" opens on cycling acoustic guitars that echo and bleed into washes of echo. The centerpiece of the album is the 24-minutes-plus opus "Origins - Winds of Time." Here, an ominous three-note chord progression (reminiscent of Wendy Carlos' music in The Shining) rumbles below formations of echoing guitar and pitch-shifting synthesizers.

A deep foray into the landscape wherein macro and micro and inner and outer merge as one, Celestial Zen is a trip behind your eyelids back to a galaxy that's as familiar as an old friend from childhood dreams. Remember to check your baggage so you can float into the outer cosmos without being dragged back down to the earth's gravitational pull, and surrender the ship's controls to David and Steve Gordon. As a record of a time when electronic synthesizers were all analog and yoga and meditation classes were impossible to find outside major cities, Celestial Zen is like an old space captain who knows tricks the youngsters don't. Close your eyes, put on those fuzzy headphones, and let the bonds of space and time dissolve in a wash of chimes and gurgling Moogs." - Daily OM

 

Notes from Backstage - What's New in 2013

Sequoia is branching out in 2013

This new year holds some exciting new directions for Sequoia.

We have made a new deal with our label partner in Europe to make their music available on the Sequoia website.  This means there will be over 100 new albums available for download on our website very soon!

You may already be familiar with some of their artists and songs because our compilations such as Buddha Lounge, Cafe de Luna and Hotel Tara have included some of their songs.  They include some of the most repected and popular Electronica, World Music and New Age Music artists in Europe.

In addition, in 2013 we will be adding over 100 guided meditations and self-improvement audio programs from our sub-label Light of Mind.  We currently have only the Creative Visualization guided meditation series available on the Sequoia website, but during 2013 we will be adding many more.   The Light of Mind audio programs feature a select team of doctors, teachers, authors and therapists who can help you create your ideal reality.

Regarding our own music, later in the year we will be releasing a new album.  This is the first time we have recorded an entire album featuring the soothing sound of Bamboo Flute and we combine it with deeply serene layers of ambient keyboards.  You can use this music for meditation, yoga or just relaxing.

There will also be an new album of Jaya Lakshmi's favorite sacred chant songs.

Make sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter for all the latest news and special deals that only subscribers can get plus you get free monthly downloads.

In 2013 we will be expanding on our original committment to bring you music and audio tools to heal body, mind and spirit.

We encourage you to leave your comments about favorite albums, suggestions or just to say hello.  Also we really appreciate reviews posted for our albums on the Sequoia website, iTunes or Amazon.

Thanks for your support!

In Peace,
David & Steve

 

Celebrating 30 Years of Award-Winning Music - Part 3

Sharing our thoughts about our awards and music, continued. 

Sequoia artists Zingaia create their own vision of world music that combines energizing world dance grooves, ancient Goddess chants and hypnotic electronica. They have built a loyal following over the years that anticipate each of their new releases. In April 2012, we released their 4th album, Earth Church that has become a top seller already.

Zingaia was recognized when their album Soles on Earth won the 2005 COVR Award for Best World Album.

Originally released in 2001, Buddha Lounge has become the premier chill out electronica series with each new release attracting new fans to its ever-growing base of downtempo enthusiasts. This top selling series was recognized when Buddha Lounge 4 won the 2004 COVR Visionary People’s Choice Award and Buddha Lounge 3 received the 2003 COVR Visionary Awards for both Best New Age Album. 

It’s wonderful to see the Buddha Lounge series awarded because when we compiled and produced this series, we listened to hundreds of tracks before deciding on the final choices for each release. We take care not only in handpicking the songs from the best artists around the world, and also in sequencing and cross-fading them so that each album is a unique experience that takes the listener on a journey that will satisfy and surprise them.

When we first heard the deeply soothing music of Shajan, we felt that of all the ambient healing music we had heard, there was an unusually beautiful quality in Shajan’s music.  

So we are happy that his music has been awarded. His album Music for Reiki and Meditation won the 2003 COVR Visionary Award for Best Meditation and Healing Album.

After all these awards and successes, if you thought that we might want to sit back and be satisfied, you would be wrong. Though we’re pleased and grateful, we’re not driven by these kinds of things, rather by our artistic inspiration and desire to heal and uplift. We are more excited than ever about our new projects and look forward to sharing them with you soon.

We invite you to leave your comments and share what experiences you have had with our music.

Walk in Peace,

David & Steve

 

 

Celebrating 30 Years of Award-Winning Music - Part 2

Sharing our thoughts about our awards and music, continued.

With our new album Groove Tribe winning the 2012 COVR Visionary Award for Best World Album, that makes the fourth year that our music has won in this category!    Our previous album Gratitude: Relaxing Native American Flute Music won the 2011 COVR Visionary Award for Best World Album; our CD/DVD 2-disc set Earth Drum won the 2008 COVR Visionary Award for Best World Album and in 2000, our album Drum Medicine also won the COVR Visionary Award for Best World Music.

It’s hard to believe but there have been 2 times when our albums won both the COVR Award for Best World Album and the COVR Award for Record of the year – in 2000 for Drum Medicine and in 2008 for Earth Drum!

But it’s not only our world drumming music that has been awarded.  In 2003, our ambient healing album Heart of Peace won the Backroads Best Meditation/Healing Music Award.

When we are composing, we follow our own inspiration and when the result is something that we feel strongly we hope that other people will connect with it too. But when those albums win these kinds of awards, we then know it’s working because they tell us that there is something very special about them that other people have felt too.

In the same way, we could not be happier when we see other artists and albums released on Sequoia Records win awards also.  When we decide to release an artist’s music on our label or create a compilation of songs, it’s because we feel there is something deep and worthwhile about that artist’s music or the songs on that compilation that deserves to be heard.

Examples include Le Spa Sonique, by Jens Gad, the brilliant composer behind the chill out downtempo group Achillea, that won the 2006 Calmscape Award for
Best Album of the Year.

And Gary Stadler, well known for his enchanting fairy music, received the Musical Starstreams Best New Age Album of the year award in 2000 for his album
Fairy Heart Magic.

Stay tuned for part 3 soon.

Walk in Peace,

David & Steve 

Celebrating 30 Years of Award-Winning Music - Part 1

Sharing our thoughts about our awards and our music.

 

When we learned that our new release Groove Tribe won the 2012 COVR Visionary Award for Best World Album, just in time for our 30th Anniversary, we thought it would be fun to do a review of the award-winning albums we’ve released over the years.  We are grateful that our music has been recognized for excellence by our peers and we deeply appreciate everyone who voted for our music at COVR and the other organizations that bestowed these awards.

We first discovered the connection between nature and music on a backpacking trip back in 1982. We had no thought of winning awards or how many albums we could sell.  As we sat by our favorite mountain river and listened to the birds and wind in the trees, feeling the deep peace that comes from being at one with everything, all we could think of is how we could share this beautiful experience with others.

After we returned, we planned more backpacking trips so we could record the sounds of nature that inspired us and then compose serene music to blend with those sounds in an organic way.  We described our first albums (Misty Forest Morning, Peaceful Evening,) as “Environmental Music” – that was before anyone had heard of a genre called “New Age Music”.

After 10 years of composing music for healing and meditation, we discovered the transforming power of hand drumming and the beauty of the Native American flute.  We followed our muse and created a new kind of world music, one that is both enlivening and soothing at the same time.  Our first album in this new world fusion direction was Sacred Earth Drums, which quickly become a #1 seller, received critical acclaim and is still a favorite with listeners and retailers today.  We had touched on something very special with this album and were inspired to create more music in this new Shamanic worldbeat direction.

Now 30 years later, we are thrilled to consider that we have sold millions of albums and won so many awards, with listeners and fans all around the world.

Stay tuned for part 2 soon.

Walk in Peace,

David & Steve 

 

New Review for Soothing Ocean Waves

 

It's nice to see a review from Daily OM of this album of ocean waves by Deep Sleep Systems, because it explains really well so many of the benefits of listening to a recording of ocean waves like this.  In some ways, it can be like an antidote for the stress of our modern life.

"The ocean is the cradle of all life, so naturally a deep somatic response to its sound is hard-wired into our brains from birth. The amniotic rush of the incoming waves followed by the soothing, brief silence of the outgoing helps us smile and relax and shed our mortal troubles in the presence of this infinite living, breathing space. No matter what we do or how hard we worry, these waves will neither speed up nor slow down. We'd do well to instead match our breath and thinking to their gentle constancy. It is with this in mind that Sequoia Records brings us their Deep Sleep System's CD, Soothing Ocean Waves. It's an hour-plus of uninterrupted ocean waves, the sounds of which have been carefully selected as the most soothing and relaxing the ocean has to offer.

All in one long track, the waves on the album are expertly recorded so that they seem to wash right over you as you listen. Close your eyes and put a little coconut lotion on the sides of your neck; if you can arrange it, take a nap like this with the afternoon sun hitting you behind the eyelids, and no doubt you will soon feel yourself someplace else. You may even feel your body bobbing up and down in the current like what sometimes happens when you're about to fall asleep in bed after a day at the beach.

It's also the perfect thing for your Walkman when you don't have room to pack a white noise machine. Merge with it via close listening headphones, or just keep it on low in the background while you meditate or fall asleep, or find love in the arms of another. Needless to say, it's perfect for a baby or sleepless child as the odd house-settling noises or outdoor distractions are replaced by a tranquil, invigorating, yet soothing sound of the ocean, conjuring happy beach memories for them and for you. Since it's hard to find anyone living who thinks the ocean is a lousy musician, Soothing Ocean Waves is a perfect gift for any stressed 21st-century soul. Just let those waves do their thing, and the whole world is righted."  – Daily OM

What are your throughts about the benefits of the sound of ocean waves or what feelings they give you? Please share your comments about this album here on our blog or on our website.

Walk in Peace,
Steve